The Daily

San Antonio's Homeless Registry Unveiled

Through the collaborated efforts of 100,000 Homes Campaign, Got Your 6, and dedicated partners, San Antonio hopes to end homelessness among vulnerable San Antonio residents, including veterans. This week more than 100 volunteers hit the streets of San Antonio to compile a registry of the Alamo City’s homeless. According to compelling data cited on Thursday by Jake Maguire (above), from the 100,000 Homes Campaign, “Volunteers participating in San Antonio’s Registry Week, a local partnership with the national 100,000 Homes Campaign gathered information from 441 homeless individuals, identifying more than 40 percent of them as medically vulnerable and at increased risk of death.”

Before revealing the success of Registry week, Ken Harbaugh, Executive Director of Service Nation & Liaison to the Board for Got Your 6, Brian McCullough, Military Affair Program Manager, Wells Fargo and Judge Nelson W. Wolff, Bexar County Judge shared their unwavering support for San Antonio’s veterans, no matter their financial status. Judge Wolff expressed to San Antonio residents that, “We’ve got a good community pulling together, we’ve got a good national effort,” and asked, “for you to please speak out so people don’t end up on the streets.”

Rachel Cavazos, local Campaign coordinator said, “Registry Week has been an overwhelming success.” Volunteers gathered data based on a vulnerability index, a 34- item questionnaire developed by 100,000 Homes Campaign that includes health status, length of homelessness, institutional history, and previous housing situations. Key registry data points include the number of homeless people (441), of these 441, 179 are considered vulnerable based on 100,000 Home’s index. Among the total surveyed, “Fifteen are over 65 years of age, 45 are under 25 years of age, and the local homeless report having spent an average of 3.7 years on the street.”

“San Antonio’s results are startling, but they’re not unusual,” said Becky Kanis, Director of the 100,000 Homes Campaign. As San Antonio wraps up Registry Week, 100,000 Homes will be moving two homeless residents into permanent housing and organizing housing resources for 100 more, including veterans. Maguire, from 100,000 Homes, told local residents and homeless attendants alike that, “San Antonio’s got your back.”